


The Eighth Wonder

by Wheres_my_badger



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: All Platonic - Freeform, Bullying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eric!Centric, Eric's lisp is the most precious thing in the world, Fluff, I think that's it - Freeform, Kinda, M/M, The others are there, and loves Eric a lot, and nothing too harsh, as usual, it's platonic tho - Freeform, just a little bit, just not mentioned directly, kevin is a sweetheart, no romantic relationship here, the members agree
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 20:04:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17270225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wheres_my_badger/pseuds/Wheres_my_badger
Summary: Eric hated his lisp. He didn’t like saying he hated things, his mama had taught him that hate was a very bad feeling to have, so Eric hesitated to say he hated things. But he hated his lisp.





	The Eighth Wonder

**Author's Note:**

  * For [qwerty2015](https://archiveofourown.org/users/qwerty2015/gifts).



> Requested by qwerty2015: Can I give you a request? The lisp, you said he didn't say words with s in it, so that experience where he tries his best to not say s and maybe he says it and some other person bullies him and the other members come to the rescue
> 
> Sorry it took a while, hope you like it!!!

“Thank you so much, auntie.”

Said Eric, giving the lady a smile. She smiled back at him, and Eric bowed slightly, turning around to leave with his water bottle. ISAC was fun; they got to meet with their friends and enjoy a day together, and it was nice to relax for a little bit, even if it was still an official schedule. It was tiring too, of course. It was a sports competition after all. But Eric loved it, and didn’t mind the physical tiredness that came from it. Not when he got to spend time with Felix and Jisung and some of his other friends.

He wasn’t far from the little tent where there was a lady distributing water bottles when he heard snickering and naturally turned to see what was happening. He had not expected the snickering to be directed at him. He did not expect to see some idol group looking at him and laughing. He could feel his cheeks heating up. Why were they laughing? Had he done something weird? What…?

Eric only noticed he had awkwardly stopped walking when one of the boys got up, walking to him. Eric tensed up. The boy didn’t stop next to him, though. He simply passed Eric by, and… and tripped on Eric’s foot. Eric’s eyes widened. The boy looked at him.

“Oh, thorry. Didn’t thee you there.”

Said the boy. The rest of his group laughed and Eric immediately felt his cheeks turning red.

Eric hated his lisp. He didn’t like saying he hated things, his mama had taught him that hate was a very bad feeling to have, so Eric hesitated to say he hated things. But he _hated_ his lisp. It had always caused him trouble. From the day he entered kindergarten to the day he finished high school he was teased for it, by his friends and everyone else, and Eric could pretend as much as he wanted that it didn’t affect him, but the nights he spent crying about it in his room would tell you otherwise.

So it was no surprise that when he first joined his company and met his future group mates he had made the decision to simply… hide his lisp. It wasn’t easy. Eric had seriously underestimated the importance of the ‘s’ sound in the Korean language. But he made an effort, and if for the longest time his new friends thought he was weirdly quiet it was ok. At least he wasn’t getting teased.

But then Eric had gotten hurt, had twisted his stupid ankle, and it wasn’t even that serious of an injury, but gods did it hurt. And he had been taken to the hospital and given painkillers, and he didn’t remember much of that, but by the time he was finally able to process human speech again the first thing he heard from Sangyeon was ‘Ric, have you been hiding your lisp from us because you think we will make fun of you?’ That had been a whole mess, and involved a lot of crying, and Eric preferred not to think about it, but… well, the result had been him being able to trust his group mates and friends fully and finally being able to express himself properly, so Eric didn’t complain much.

And so Eric had gotten less self-conscious about his lisp, his group’s constant reminder that they didn’t care doing wonders for his self-esteem. He still hated his lisp at times, and still went through periods when he didn’t want to speak at all, too self-conscious to. But he was doing much better. This, however…

“Ah, Theok hyung, don’t be tho mean. You’re gonna make him cry.”

Came another voice, and Eric was brought back to the present, noticing the group had joined the boy who had approached Eric first. Eric’s hand hurt from how hard he was gripping his bottle, and his cheeks were burning, and he didn’t know what to do.

He couldn’t yell for help; that would be humiliating. And he couldn’t look too scared; they were in a fairly hidden part of the arena, and the chance of them being seen there was low, but if they were, the fans might start a whole war. And he couldn’t tell them to stop, because, well…

“Can you let me through?”

He chose to ask, looking at the ground, too embarrassed to face the boys. He heard them laughing.

“Are we in the way, baby? Tell me, how did you even become an idol? How did they choose you when you can’t even speak properly?”

Eric felt his eyes watering. He had asked himself that before, many times, but hearing it from someone else hurt a lot more.

“I-I don’t, they didn’t…”

Eric groaned, frustrated, because he wanted to shout at them, be confident and tell them to fuck off, but they were picking at his biggest insecurities and he didn’t want to give them more material to torment him by speaking and showing his lisp, and…

“C’mon, speak up, baby, we want to hear what you have to say.”

Said another one of the boys, laughing, and Eric just wanted to die. He couldn’t believe this was happening. He…

“Excuse me, but what the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Eric’s eyes widened. That voice… Kevin didn’t curse. He didn’t curse and he was one of the least violent people Eric had ever met in his life – except for Jacob. And yet, when Eric looked up through the tears in his eyes, it was really Kevin standing there, and he seemed ready to murder someone. Juyeon and Younghoon, behind him, didn’t seem too happy, either. 

“H-hyung…”

Eric attempted, but was cut off by Kevin pulling his wrist and putting himself between Eric and the other boys. The youngest felt Younghoon and Juyeon approach him, one of them putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“What happened? You were so talkative just now, why are you suddenly so quiet?”

Asked Kevin, voice acid. And indeed, the boys had gone quiet, eyes wide. Eric didn’t blame them. He knew Kevin was harmless and wouldn’t hurt a fly, but at the moment the boy seemed capable of anything.

“We weren’t…”

Started the first boy who had cornered Eric, but Kevin was quick to cut him off.

“If I ever see any of you _near_ him or any of my friends again, you’ll wish you were never born.”

He said, and turned around, grabbing Eric’s wrist and pulling him away.

Eric was dazed at what had happened, but he knew better than to show it. He wanted to cry, too, he really did. But instead he put on a smile as they entered the full view of the fans. Kevin’s face, too, softened into a smile, but Eric could see, clear as day, how upset the older was.

Once they reached the others, Kevin sat down and – to Eric’s surprise – pulled the maknae to sit on his lap.

“H-hyung…”

Stuttered Eric. The others weren’t looking at them, but Eric could tell they were paying attention, and he knew that what had happened would soon be of common knowledge in the group.

“I’m… I’m so fucking angry, Ric.”

He did sound really angry. Eric sighed, relaxing on the boy’s arms.

“Don’t be, hyung.”

He said. Kevin shook his head, hand running through Eric’s hair.

“I am. I was so pissed. I almost broke the idiot’s nose right then and there.”

He said. Eric didn’t reply. He felt his heart skipping a beat at the fact that Kevin cared so much about him. Juyeon moved closer to them.

“We really were ready to beat them up, Ric.”

He said, and Eric shook his head.

“Hyung, please… I’m… it… not here. Please.”

He said, hoping they would understand. They seemed to, because they dropped the subject. Eric could tell the others were curious and worried about what had happened, but they would have to wait. He wasn’t about to cry in front of all their fans.

 

Eric should have known that as soon as there were no cameras around he would be questioned. They were at the dressing room when Sangyeon walked up to him.

“Ok, now can you tell us what happened?”

Asked the older. Eric looked down. He didn’t think he would be able to talk about this. To his relief, Kevin spoke up.

“Those guys were… they were bothering Eric because of his lisp.”

Kevin’s words had a practically magic effect. Immediately everyone was around Eric, expressions ranging from extremely pissed to worried, and Eric… Eric felt his heart racing, his cheeks reddening. He then felt his eyes watering, and the first person to notice was Chanhee.

“Ah, Ric, no, don’t cry.” The boy pulled Eric closer and the younger hid his face against Chanhee’s chest. “They were assholes, they don’t deserve your tears, come on.”

Eric hated crying like that in front of everyone, but he couldn’t help. He had been holding that in since the boys first approached him. So he cried. He held onto Chanhee and cried all he had to cry, conscious that his group was right there, seeing him breaking down, but not caring that much at the moment.

Once he was done, Chanhee pulled back and dried his cheeks.

“I hate seeing you like this.”

He mumbled, expression sad. Eric sniffed.

“I-I’m…”

He couldn’t complete his sentence, couldn’t say he was sorry. He could hear the others sighing, and he knew they were disappointed in him, at all the progress he was throwing away. He looked down, hands gripping his shirt, but a hand on his face made him look up a second later.

“Hey, no. We’re not disappointed in you, Ric.” Said Kevin, as if he could read Eric’s thoughts. “Take your time. It’s ok. Don’t force yourself.”

Eric pulled away.

“I hate it.”

He mumbled. By his side, Jacob frowned.

“What do you hate?”

Eric sighed.

“Thi… that…”

He tried to say, but the sentence ‘this stupid lisp’ didn’t have one single word he could pronounce, and who was the imbecile that put an ‘s’ in ‘lisp’, goddamn? With a sigh, Chanhee gently held his wrist, pulling it away from where Eric had been scratching himself without noticing.

“Ok, give me their names.”

Everyone turned to look at Haknyeon. The boy hadn’t said anything so far, but he looked even angrier than Kevin had.

“What?”

Eric asked.

“These guys’ names. I’m going to make them regret ever going near you.”

Said the boy. At that, Eric chuckled. He saw all of the others relaxing slightly, as if they had been afraid Eric was permanently broken and him laughing had made them see hope.

“Please don’t.”

He said. Haknyeon pouted.

“They deserve it.”

He said, and Eric smiled. He was still upset. Upset, hurt, embarrassed. But the boys around him at the moment were looking at him with such fond expressions, and Eric could feel how much he meant to them. And if he had that… well, he didn’t need to care about anyone else.

“You’re too good to go near them, hyung. Now can we go home?”

He said, tired of the constant attention on him, despite the others’ worry helping him relax a bit.

 

Once the van was moving, Eric felt someone nudge him. He looked up to find Kevin next to him.

“Hyung?”

He questioned. Kevin gave him a little smile.

“Hey. Wanted to see how you’re doing.”

Eric blushed.

“I’m fine, hyung. Nothing happened.”

He said. Kevin frowned.

“You’re not fine. I can tell.”

Eric sighed. Kevin was loud and often came off as a crackhead, but he was incredibly perceptive.

“I don’t… I don’t know why people…”

He tried to say. Kevin seemed to understand, putting an arm around Eric and pulling him close. Eric let him, snuggling against the older. It was on occasions like this – and only then – that Eric thanked the heavens for being small. Well. ‘Small’. If Changbin and Jisung heard him calling himself small they would be pissed.

“Some people are stupid. Like those guys. This type of people… they’re not worth your time or your tears. Ok?” Eric didn’t answer, simply snuggling closer. Kevin rubbed his back comfortingly, then pressed a kiss to Eric’s temple. “You’re perfect as you are, Ric. Lisp and all.”

Eric sighed.

“It… It get- shit. Get in the way.”

He said. Kevin pulled him closer.

“It doesn’t. Never did, never will. All it does is make you unique and cute. Our cute and lovable little maknae. We love you just like that. Understood?”

Eric took a deep breath.

“Un-understood, hyung.”

He managed to say with a bit of effort. He couldn’t see, but he knew Kevin was smiling. He smiled too.

 

(If all of them spoiled Eric rotten for the next three days, with kisses and cuddle, no one had to know. And if Eric crawled into Kevin’s bed at night and thanked him before falling asleep in the other’s arms, that was none of no one’s business.)

(Felix sent him a message on the next morning, involving way too many angry looking emojis and a promise that 'those guys' would catch his hands, and he couldn't help but to laugh at the idea of tiny Felix fighting anyone. Eric also found out that apparently 'Chan hyung has a lisp too, and he is amazing and almost Jesus, so.')

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I hope you guys liked this ^.^ comments are always appreciated, and I'm currently not taking requests, but soon I will take them again!!!
> 
> Also, who do you guys ship with Eric?????
> 
> I didn't specify who the other group was, cause I love all groups and don't want to put anyone as the bad guys


End file.
